Informant sues police for lost wages

December 05, 2007

ATLANTA (AP) -- A man who made his living as a confidential informant sued the city and police department Tuesday, claiming he lost his job after a botched drug raid in which officers killed a 92-year-old woman. Alex White claims police held him against his will for hours in hopes he would help them cover up their mistakes in the death of Kathryn Johnston, a scandal that continues to reverberate within the police department. White's federal civil rights lawsuit names the city, police Chief Richard Pennington and at least 11 police officers or supervisors. It requests that White be compensated for lost wages, emotional distress and attorney's fees. White, 25, had brought in up to $30,000 a year "snitching" for police, said his attorney, Fenn Little Jr. White was in protective custody for seven months while working with federal prosecutors on the case against three officers involved in the raid. His life was "essentially ruined" because of the case, Little said. Now that his name and face have been widely publicized, he has to find a new line of work, he said. Johnston was killed in a hail of nearly 40 police gunshots Nov. 21, 2006, when plainclothes narcotics officers burst into her home using a no-knock warrant. The officers had falsely told a judge that an informant had confirmed drug dealing there, prosecutors say. Two of the officers charged in the raid pleaded guilty to state manslaughter and federal civil rights charges in April and have left the force. No sentencing date has been set in their case.